Study Your History

Upon watching Lawrence of Arabia recently, it dawned on me how powerful the film was and how important and relevant it is to today’s current events. It would be a useful tool for today’s youth to get a quick (and by quick I mean 3 hour and 47 minute) history lesson about the volatile region and learn the reasons why tensions are so hostile. They could see that people from the Middle East aren’t just prone to violence and that they don't “hate freedom”, but that they were used as pawns for so long by their ruling forces; the Turks, the British, the French and the Americans. It is a wonder that Arab and Persian cultures managed to flourish as they did, bringing the world advances in science and medicine while Europeans were burning books.


The film also gives us positive Middle Eastern characters and heroes, like the noble and wise Prince Faisal, the fiery and charismatic Sherif Ali and the generous and powerful Auda Abu Tayi. The characters, although played by an Englishman, Egyptian and Mexican, are three dimension and all so different, not just stereotypes. We could use stronger Arab, Palestinian and Persian roles in our films to try and wipe away the ignorance and misunderstandings associated with the people of these regions. We could also use more stories about historical periods in the Middle East other than the Iraq War(s).


Here are a few suggestions for characters and ideas for movies, just to get the ball rolling:

Saladin – One of the most famous warriors from the time of the Crusades, this Iraqi Kurd did battle with the armies of Richard the Lionheart and others to win back Jerusalem and other territories captured by the Christian Armies. Not only was Saladin fierce, but he was a chivalrous warrior who had much respect for his enemies and treated his prisoners with class and decency, even before the Geneva Convention. Except for the one Christian commander whom he offered water to, only to have his face spat in. That guy got his head chopped off.

Ahmed Shah Massoud – Known affectionately as “The Lion of Panjsher”, Massoud led guerilla forces in Afghanistan against the invading Soviet Armies in the 1980’s. This ethnic Tajik will earn the love of American audience because of his pro-Western stance and his Russian-crushing style of warfare and will help to show that Afghanistan is not the wasteland that we picture it as.

Hasan as-Sabah – Not the most noble of men, but a very interesting character: Sabah was the leader of the Hashshashin or the “Assassins”, a Persian group that began using suicide bombing tactics against their enemies in the 11th century. He built a castle in the Alborz Mountains in modern day Iran and constructed an enormous “pleasure garden” filled with flowers, lush greenery and food and wine served by voluptuous virgins. Subjects were drugged and brought to the garden and awoke in the Eden-like atmosphere which was supposed to represent heaven. They were told that if they committed to martyrdom by suicide, they would return to this magical place and live there for all of eternity. Hardly a hero or a great man, but a fascinating story none-the-less.